Cooper provides comic relief

If you’re going to laugh at Cecil Cooper for not bothering to read the lineup card before it’s exchanged, then you have to also give him some credit for getting great production from Hunter Pence and Miguel Tejada on Wednesday after flipping those two in the order.

Fortunately for the Astros, they didn’t pay for Cooper’s mistake. They won and the players also got to have a tremendous laugh at his expense.

Here’s Cooper’s side of the story.

“We have three or four safeguards, two or three coaches and myself,” he said. “And today no one checked it. So we’re all at fault, but I take the blame ultimately because it’s my responsibility. That should be the end of it.”

Translation, three other people screwed up, too, but I have to answer for it.

When did you know it was wrong?

“Actually, when (the umpire) said he was out,” Cooper said. “That’s when I noticed it. I didn’t even look at it. I put it in my pocked tonight without really checking. Usually I check it every day and today for some reason, I did not check. And no one checked. That was the snafu.”

At that point, I wanted to ask Cooper why didn’t you at least come out of the dugout to calm Michael Bourn and explain to him that it was your mistake and not his. Bourn is a young player who was obviously upset. Fortunately, Geoff Blum stepped in and calmed Bourn down and let him know that he didn’t screw up.

I didn’t ask that question because I was dying to figure out why he didn’t bother to look at his lineup card. Wouldn’t you have to look at it if you wrote it? So I asked, “Who wrote it?”

“I wrote it,” he said. “I wrote the original lineup. Every day we come in, I write a lineup, I hand it to my bench coach. He hands it to some one who does it on the computer. There’s four checks. And today nobody checked. It is my responsibility.”

Cooper has led off with Kaz Matsui consistently, so that’s probably why the person who wrote it kept him there on the day Cooper wanted to lead off with Bourn and bat Matsui second.

“I’m sure that’s how it really came about just because Matsui is always leadoff,” Cooper said. “It’s my responsibility. I take full responsibility for it.”

Cooper didn’t help matters by waiting so long to post his lineup. I’m going to offer Cooper and his bosses a bit of advice and let them know what’s going on in the clubhouse. If they have a meeting to figure out what the heck’s going on, I promise Cooper and his bosses that the players will say there’s a lack of communication, whether it’s guys not knowing when they’re going to play or pitch or if a player is going to be in the lineup on a certain day.

It’s never a good sign when players are frustrated because they keep going back and forth to see if the lineup is up, which is what happened Wednesday while Cooper watched the Texans play Home Run Derby.

“That might have created some of a problem too. I was waiting to talk to a couple of guys. That might have created a problem. But, again, it’s my responsibility,” Cooper said of the late lineup posting.

Did Bourn appear confused?

“He was confused,” Cooper said. “Yeah, he was confused, but I knew exactly what happened.”

We’re all human. We all make mistakes. Cooper might warrant a pass for messing up the lineup, but a leader would have gone out to tell Bourn that Bourn didn’t do anything wrong. Instead, Cooper and his good friend/bench coach Ed Romero remained in the dugouts. That’s when leadership was needed.

I bet you want some reactions from the clubhouse.

Carlos Lee just laughed and laughed and laughed.

Wandy Rodriguez said, “That’s the first time I see that. It’s the first time. I had never seen that, ever. I was surprised. I asked Carlos Lee, ‘what happened?’ He said the lineup was wrong. I had never seen that. I was really surprised.”

Rodriguez didn’t find the situation funny.

“It didn’t make us laugh, but it really surprised us because we had never seen that,” he said. “How can you believe that can happen? That’s weird.”

Miguel Tejada: “It’s kind of surprising for anybody. Like I say, anything can happen in baseball.”

Geoff Blum, in my opinion, deserves tremendous kudos for showing the leadership that Cooper and Romero didn’t with Bourn.

“I wanted to make sure that he knew that was not his fault,” Blum said. “That was just a weird situation that had nothing to do with him.”

Thankfully for the Astros, Blum made clear to drive that point home to Bourn forcefully yet with the tact of a team leader.

51 Responses

Before I got to the end of this blog, I knew it was a get Cooper piece. The writer must not like Lance Berkman either. I saw the ump going up to Kaz Matsui and saying “you’re out.” Kaz knows little English but Berkman seemed to be explaining effectively explaining in Texan what went wrong.

The real problem is blogs themselves. The Chronicle blog seems to enjoy more success than any other.

I warn all of you, just like I warned those arrogant suits from New York 35 years ago that they were screwing up the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they were taking the paper down. That sale of the ST started the downhill slide. Now nearly all major newspapers are owned by corporations and nearly all corporations are in financial trouble.

Not only does the Chronicle have a strong blog but also a strong newspaper. I keep in touch with a lot old Houston friends and relatives. One said the Chronicle was becoming increasingly liberal in its stories when its audience is conservative and previously read an objective newspaper. Then delivery is bad and the person taking circulation complaints tells him its not her fault and there is nothing she can do about it. Now he buys a few copies a week. Carriers who screw up the home delivery often serve the sales racks and stores. What do they have to lose? They also control the single copy sales in the neighborhood which are much easier to service. I’m not saying the Chronicle operates this way but many large and small papers do.

The main problem is that he left one of his players out to dry. I don’t give a damn whether he’s black or white, tall or short, whatever or whatever. To me people that bring this crap up lets it cloud their own judgement.

Just my opinion; First, Coop is a former all-star major league baseball player. Second, Coop is black. Third, Coop is a Texan. Fourth, Most major league managers were catchers. Question? Does this mean that all of the above is necessary to be a good manager? Are all players managerial material?

Managing is an art, it is an acquired skill, primarily made of excellent students of the game. Whatever the game may be. Garner wanted his friend to get a shot at managing, he has but unfortunately he has failed miserably. It is time to move on, maybe to a former pitcher.

cooper is doing just as well as ‘scraps’ or williams would be doing and its not even the second half yet. when berkman was sub mendoza nobody had a peep about anything. astros are barely sub 500 after two months and ‘string him up! yeeeHAAAAA!’

Thanks for the honesty and just putting the facts out there w/o an agenda. The insights you guys are privy to is what the fans want to know about. It is much appreciated. RJ, for one, is just a shirt stirrer changing his slant from day to day to get readers jazzed. To me he is tiring and I don’t know why he gets top billing at the paper. Its okay for us to have an opinion and mine is; of the Astros many weaknesses Cooper’s team management skills are lacking.

We were at the game last night and it took Michael Bourn’s second at-bat (in the 1st inning) for us to figure out what was going on. We were pretty sure Michael would hack away trying to get that hit back but were pleasantly surprised and impressed with his patience after all of the confusion. Another concern was how the delay and chaos would affect Wandy’s historically delicate psyche. I’m sure putting runs on the board early helped with that, but, in the end, it was nice to see good, solid play by a couple of players who have been labeled with maturity issues in the past.

Yes, we all make mistakes and will continue to make mistakes because of imperfections. The issue is also more than Coop embarrasing himself and the team IMO.

I am most disgusted with the fact that he left Bourn out there to pitch a fit when he (Coop) knew what had happened, and he said it himself. That is unbecoming of a manager in the majors. I think it goes back to the fact that rarely does he argue calls to show that he backs his troops.

I can’t comment on his intelligence or lack thereof, but I can say that sometimes his baseball IQ is questionable.

Must the race card always be played. I would rather have a black manager over a white manager if it is going to help this team win. Get over it. Cecil Cooper has made some bonehead mistakes that warrant his release at least in a lot of people’s opinion. Everything that goes on in lift does not always have to be raced based.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the first “it’s because he is black” comment hit this board. The thing that makes this comical for me is watching JJO receive what is essentially a “you’re a racist” accusation. In my opinion JJO does spend more time than it’s worth dwelling on race related issues in sports but JJO a racist? Give me a friggin break!!

If those are the lenses which rule your assessment of life then i pity you. Personally, the only time I encounter this racial animus is when i watch or read the news. Whatever Kool Aid people are drinking to stay in touch with the real and percieved transgressions of the past…it’s time to move on, live in the present and judge people on their actions, effort and abilities.

Rob…your comment is the equivilant of someone asking you when you stopped beating your wife…pretty pathetic route to take isn’t it?

I agree with Rob. I think Coop is getting a bad deal. I originally did no agree with the hiring of Coop but someone had to take the job. It doesn’t matter who is steering this ship it was going down any way. As a baseball coach myself one thing I do know you need is pitching and the astros don’t have that. Oswalt is not giving a 100 percent effort, Wandy is OK, that’s it. Hiring Coop was a PR move. Have you notice the influx of african american players on the team. When Clemens and the good ole boy network was here a few years ago we no black players. Now with Coop in charge incomes the players. And don’t give me that crap that african americans don’t play baseball they do. They just don’t get as many chances to produce as say (lidge, Jr towles, list goes on)This team was in the crapper before Coop came in. Oh yeah by the way, JJDO needs to sell papers and blog hits to keep his job the chronicle is cutting back, Coop is keeping him employed.

wow ROB i couldnt agree with you more…im glad someone brought up the race thing, i thought i was the only one who noticed racist undertow of Coops critics…If Cooper was white i know for a fact he wouldnt be critized as much…When Joe Maddon made his lineup card mistake he was attacked as badly as Coop has been and his mistake was MUCH worse…his pitcher had to bat 3rd while his best player was benched…thank god Coop didnt make a mistake like that…

A lineup card mistake appears to be a rare occurrence during a season, and now the odds of similar mistake happening twice less than a week apart.

The AL Manager of Year (08) Joe Maddon just made similar mistake when he listed Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria at 3B and forgot to list the DH in the lineup card in Sunday game. The umpire forced the pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat 3rd who hit a RBI double in a game that the Rays won 7-5.

Lance Berkman forgetting how many outs in the inning can not be a reason to question his focus and leadership. I am not sure if a lineup card mistake can question whether a manager can be good or bad, or even his leadership.

Who knows, it may be a relaxing and fun experience for everybody in the clubhouse, among players, managers and coaches that even writers and fans can join the party. How about giving a copy of the original lineup card to the fans attending an Astros game at MMP?

The win after the “lineup card mistake” can be their turning point for this season.

In response to rob. I have played, coached and just watched baseball for 51 years. I know a thing or two about baseball and what I really know is that Cooper is a very, very bad manager. Doesn’t have a thing to do with skin color. Only an idiot would try to play the race card in this discussion. Cooper is just bad.

What bothered me the most was watching Cooper and Romero hiding in the dugout. They were either to ashamed or to afraid to come out and talk to Bourn. I’m sure the players noticed and must be wondering about the leadership from their manager. I’m sorry but it’s time for Cooper to go.

You are far and away the best astros writer in town. Your honesty and hatred for cooper is amazing, and if i ever saw you in a bar i would buy you a beer in a heartbeat. keep up the good work and say what everyone else in houston is afraid to say!

FIRE COOPER!

(John, I promise you that I don’t hate Cooper. I’m just trying to let the fans know some background of what’s going on in the clubhouse. I’m trying to explain things as I see them. Sadly, it just so happens that over the last week there have been several instances in which Cooper hasn’t covered himself in glory. We all have bad weeks. Karma is a you know what. So on the same day I wrote about Cooper’s mistakes, my copy desk saved me from three silly and stupid mistakes of my own on deadline. I wish I could say I was perfect, but I’m not either. Thanks for caring enough to post your comments. JJO)

I wouldn’t be so quick to label Cooper stupid. None of you (or very few of you ) really know him, and I would wager that he knows more about baseball than any of you fat-butt fan bloggers. Society has coursened so much over the past decades that we think nothing of calling people names, saying they should be fired, labeling them idiots — especially behind the anonimity of the internet. I wonder also if you’d be so quick to judge a white manager so harshly. Just ask yourself and be honest.

The management on this team is the reason we are in last place. I have had suprivisors in the Navy that just made me want to give up because I had such a complete lack of respect for them. I still did my job, but it wasnt easy. I wanted out everyday when they took my boss away, and switched him with a guy who had his thumb up his butt and was putting us in position to do everything wrong. Its uncalled for, and Drayton is smart enough to know that this manager and bench coach are killing this teams chemistry. Do we have to spell it out for you?? Seriously. Jokes over. This needs to stop.

I do not like Cooper, and IMO he is not a good manager nor a leader in any way. Leaders COMMUNICATE honestly and clearly. Blaming the other coaches to find Cooper’s mistake is bush league and low class.

Yes, Coop lacks brains also, and I don’t care if he is a nice guy; however I doubt that he is. All that said, he is perfect for Drayton- they are a matched set.

On the other hand Blum is first class, hard playing; I always liked him- even more than Ensburg. I guess that means they let him go like they did Loretta. Love the Sto’s players, management- NOT.

There’s a debate in my office. At what point did Macha lose the right to point out the fact Bourn and Matsui were batting out of order? For instance, if Bourn had led off and made the first out and then Matsui got on base could Macha have THEN protested and Matsui would have been called out or did he have to protest when he did?

(No, I don’t not hate Cooper. I’ve praised him and defended him several times on here. This is just the latest entry I post about a situation that didn’t turn out well. I’ve also posted many others praising him for his moves. JJO)

JJO, I have to disagree. Now I don’t think you hate Cooper and I do remember you being complementary of him. But that was a long time ago before he got the manager’s job and early on after he became the manager. Over the last several months, something has changed. I’m not saying it’s anything personal, but I get the feeling you’re not as impressed with Cooper as you were once upon a time. And apparently, neither is the clubhouse.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Coop the manager. This latest screw up happened in part because he wanted to “communicate” with his players and in doing so, he made things worse and then left Bourn twisting in the wind. Unless it affects Berkman or Lee, there is no reason to wait and discuss line up changes. Just post the thing up and get it over with. Players these days are way too sensitive.

Does Drayton need to release a couple of dead head players in order to be able to pay a professional manager or what. That’s not funny at all when a veteran third baseman has to reassure a young player that he didn’t mess up while the manager hid in the dugout. This is a shame and a disgrace.

Good points about Blum. Glad to see there is some leadership in the dugout/clubhouse. I haven’t been one to call for Coop’s head, but if he completely looses the respect of his team, something has to be done.

Also, kudos to Wandy – he just removed all doubt from my mind that he might backslide into the inconsitancies that have marked his career up till now.

haha…those are some great, not-so-thinly-veiled attempts at ripping into Coop. you really hate the guy, eh?

Coop seems like a nice guy, he just lacks brains, a quality most of us like to see in a manager of our MLB team.

(No, I don’t hate Cooper. I’ve praised him and defended him several times on here. This is just the latest entry I post about a situation that didn’t turn out well. I’ve also posted many others praising him for his moves. JJO)

To write out a wrong lineup card is a mistake. No big deal, we all make them. To not take leadership control of the situation is a character fault. That IS a big deal. We are not all cut out to be leaders/managers.

So much comment on something so insignificant. Its a win, Bourn did not care about it, they played well. But as they say in spanish: “les encanta hacer leña del árbol caido” So now everything goes against Coop. Just because a bit headed interview about Geary going to the DL.

What this really tells me is that Cooper can make all types of errors. Like I still remember his 2 errors in Chicago last week. One in the top of the 9th (failing to have the pinch hitter sacrifice the winning runner(s) to 2nd and 3rd with no one out) and then in the bottom of the 9th when the Cubs had the winning run on 2nd and 1 out, he fails to walk Soriano which would set up a force play at every base and a potential double play. The man on 2nd was the only run that counted. But, alas, Cooper pitches to Soriano who wins the game for the Cubs with a hit.

I detect a bit of condescension but be that as it may it wasn’t until I read the part about him waiting to speak with some players that I remembered something. Earlier, when he moved

Berkman down in the order, he didn’t let him know until the day of in that case as well. And it just occurred to me that, and you’ll forgive me if I’m too lazy to look up the name, he may still be shell shocked about that tussle he had with a pitcher last season. He just might be scared to talk to his players for fear of them taking him to the octagon again. Just a thought. I don’t follow the clubhouse all that closely so is it that or did he display this bad habit last year as well and that’s why that pitcher tried to take him out right before a game?

I’m gathering from your blog lately that from the evidence you are seeing and getting, you feel that Cooper is not really doing a great job as the leader/manager for this team. Do you think that he’s a detriment to the team right now, or that he will become a detriment? Do you think he can change that, or is his role set in the eyes of the players? And if so, how long do you give him, and how much does the performance of the team affect that? For example, if the Astros can get over .500 and start playing well, can you still say that Cooper is doing a poor job of managing? Or do you think that they won’t get to that point because of the job he’s doing?